Platinum Member

Silver Member

Every gig is different, even if you're playing a part off of a page. You may play similarly and consistently to what you did the last time you played it, but the nuances are always going to be different.

That said, I'm pretty consistent in what I play because like others have said, the music itself drives how I approach the part, whether it's drums or trumpet.

Gold Member

I maintain our band's set lists. One for the other guys and one for me. Mine has notes on groove, stops, what cymbal to start on, and how song starts and ends. It's very condensed like less than 20 or so words per song. Sometimes nothing more than "4/4 Rock no stops". I don't use the notes for every song, just on an as-needed basis, more so for a new song added than one played for last 2 years. We're always trying out new material, so our sets are never the same gig to gig.

Silver Member

I try to play completly different everytime i play a tune (and expect the other musicians to do the same). I would not want to be a musician if I would play everytime the same, it would be TO ME like watching always the same movie, even if it was a great movie, really boring.

I don´t prepare tunes at all (it is a long answer), I normally don´t even know which tune I´m going to play 2 seconds before I actually play it (more than 99% of the times) I just educate myself to be everyday more prepared to play spontaneous expanding my vocabulary and awareness, to react, and to try to be as hip as i can, playing with SURPRISE (or unnexpected) as i can too, opening the dialog and interaction, sugesting ideas, directions and always at the same time supporting.

Gold Member

Curious: what kind of band or group ensemble are you in where you normally don´t even know which tune you're going to play 2 seconds before you actually play it? We rehearse once or twice a week and play gigs once or twice a month. Wed never consider showing up at a paid gig and not know what we're gonna play 2 seconds before we play it.

I try to play completly different everytime i play a tune (and expect the other musicians to do the same). I would not want to be a musician if I would play everytime the same, it would be TO ME like watching always the same movie, even if it was a great movie, really boring.

I don´t prepare tunes at all (it is a long answer), I normally don´t even know which tune I´m going to play 2 seconds before I actually play it (more than 99% of the times) I just educate myself to be everyday more prepared to play spontaneous expanding my vocabulary and awareness, to react, and to try to be as hip as i can, playing with SURPRISE (or unnexpected) as i can too, opening the dialog and interaction, sugesting ideas, directions and always at the same time supporting.

Member

I play for our church group and we only practice as a band once so I try to play as close to the recording as I can so that the congregation knows what to expect and there are no surprises for the group.

Gold Member

Curious: what kind of band or group ensemble are you in where you normally don´t even know which tune you're going to play 2 seconds before you actually play it? We rehearse once or twice a week and play gigs once or twice a month. Wed never consider showing up at a paid gig and not know what we're gonna play 2 seconds before we play it.

Silver Member

Curious: what kind of band or group ensemble are you in where you normally don´t even know which tune you're going to play 2 seconds before you actually play it? (1) We rehearse once or twice a week and play gigs once or twice a month. Wed never consider showing up at a paid gig and not know what we're gonna play 2 seconds before we play it.(2)

Junior Member

The past six years I've been playing in a rock and soul cover band. I found that I best served the interests of the band by playing things the same night after night. The singer knew what to expect and we put on a more consistent show.

We changed material quite a bit, adding twenty to twenty-five songs a year which kept things interesting.

Member

In my cover bands. I always bring to mind the feel, and groove of the original, before I count off, then slide into it. After a few months, I refresh my memory, by listening to the original, to see if I have strayed. I'm a very simple, lazy drummer, and sometimes I have to remind my self to hit more crashes.